Indexes

After three sessions of retreat and a Monday that pulled the market in two directions, Tuesday delivered something scarce of late: all three major indexes higher together, and the lift came from the same corner that had done the damage. Memory-chip stocks came roaring back after Morgan Stanley told clients that memory prices could climb 25% on artificial-intelligence demand, and the broad iShares Semiconductor fund gained 4.9%, a second straight advance off a drop that had reached 19% from the group's June peak. The strength was wide rather than narrow. Industrials joined as 3M surged on results and Caterpillar reversed Monday's decline, together worth more than 230 points on the Dow, while energy firmed with crude and only the mega-cap software names, Microsoft and Amazon among them, finished lower as cash rotated toward the cheaper corners of technology. Roughly 87% of S&P 500 companies have topped profit estimates so far this quarter, a backdrop that gave buyers cover ahead of a crowded week of reports. The S&P 500 finished at 7,506.31, up 0.85% and back within a handful of points of the 7,513 level it defended last week, while the VIX fell nearly 6% to 17.5.

Sector Heat Map

The pattern was offense over defense: semiconductors, industrials, and energy did the work while staples, utilities, and the mega-cap communication names funded the move.

In the News

Rates, FX, Commodities

The bond market sat out the equity rally. Yields held close to where Monday's oil-driven inflation worry left them, with traders paying more attention to a crude price that keeps climbing and to next week's Federal Reserve meeting than to a one-day bounce in stocks. Gold was the standout across commodities, holding just above $4,000 as the Iran conflict kept a steady bid under the metal even while equities rallied.

Technicals

At 7,506 the S&P 500 reclaimed the 50-day average near 7,500 that it defended through last week's selling, leaving the 7,575 peak from earlier this month as the mark to recover. The Nasdaq Composite, which had slipped beneath its own 50-day on Thursday, closed back above it at 25,846, a first step in repairing the chart last week's selling damaged. In rates, the two-year at 4.18% and the 10-year at 4.59% both sit mid-range; a 10-year push above the recent 4.65% high would tighten the screws on rate-sensitive groups, while the front end stays pinned to the Fed. The hourly chart below tracks Micron's climb, a gap higher at the open that built through the afternoon rather than fading.

Micron (MU), hourly. The stock gapped up and extended through the session, a 12% advance that led the chip group higher.

Breakouts & Breakdowns

Breakouts

Micron (MU) — cleared the July downtrend that had erased more than a quarter of its value on the month, and a 12% session puts the prior highs back within reach; the 50-day is now support to hold.

3M (MMM) — gapped out of a multi-week range on the earnings beat and raised outlook, a clean break that leaves the spring highs as the next marker overhead.

Breakdowns

Microsoft (MSFT) — off 1.1% and testing its 50-day as money left mega-cap software for cheaper names; a close beneath the line would open the early-July gap below.

Alphabet (GOOGL) — slipped 0.8% and stalled at resistance into Wednesday's report, the kind of quiet pullback that the earnings reaction will quickly resolve one way or the other.

3M (MMM), daily. A second-quarter beat and raised outlook lifted the stock out of a multi-week range.

Top Movers

Gainers

Micron (MU) rose about 12%, the session's biggest gainer, after Morgan Stanley told clients that contract memory prices could rise 25% as artificial-intelligence servers soak up supply. The call reframed a stock that had lost roughly a quarter of its value in July as a beneficiary of the same AI buildout that had recently been questioned. It pulled the whole memory group with it and set the tone for the day.

SK Hynix (SKHY) climbed roughly 10%, the Korean memory giant that listed on the Nasdaq earlier this month drawing bargain hunters after last week's rout knocked the group lower. Its move underscored that Tuesday's bid was about memory pricing specifically, not the sector in general.

3M (MMM) jumped about 9% after a second-quarter beat and a raised second-half outlook, and with Caterpillar's rebound it did most of the work lifting the Dow. The report added to a strong start for industrial earnings and pushed the stock out of a range it had held for weeks.

Intel (INTC) gained about 7% on word of a new customer for its contract-manufacturing business, a rare piece of good news for the foundry effort ahead of the company's own report Thursday. That report will test whether one signed customer marks a turn or a one-off.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose about 6% on the broad move, even as Nvidia's newly detailed Vera server processor arguably raises the competitive stakes for its own data-center line.

Losers

Microsoft (MSFT) eased about 1.1% as investors rotated out of the mega-cap software winners and into cheaper corners of the market.

Amazon (AMZN) slipped about 1%, caught in the same rotation with no company news of its own.

Alphabet (GOOGL) drifted down 0.8% ahead of its Wednesday-evening report, a modest give-back after leading Monday's advance.

Intel (INTC), daily. Shares gained on a new foundry customer, two days before the company's own quarterly report.

Key Macro Data Today

The U.S. data calendar was empty of any market-moving release, leaving the session to earnings and oil; the week's housing figures and next week's Federal Reserve decision are the next items that carry weight.

Notable Earnings This Session

Pre-Open

Industrials and autos headlined the morning. 3M and General Motors both beat, 3M lifting its second-half guidance and GM raising its full-year profit range on easing tariff costs; 3M's roughly 9% jump made it the day's clearest earnings winner.

Post-Close

Texas Instruments was the after-hours marquee name, beating on an industrial-chip recovery, with insurer Chubb also reporting. Texas Instruments matters as the first big analog-chip read of the season, a cleaner gauge of factory and auto demand than this session's headline movers.

Drivers

Alphabet and Tesla report after Wednesday's close, the first heavyweight tests of whether the AI-spending optimism that powered Tuesday's advance can survive contact with real numbers. Investors will scrutinize Alphabet's capital-spending plans after its move to raise fresh equity for data centers drew questions about cash flow, and Tesla's automotive margins and delivery pace after a soft first quarter. A cautious word on capital budgets from either would ripple well beyond their own shares.

Crude is the swing variable for both inflation and the energy trade. Brent above $91 and reports of tankers ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz keep a premium in the barrel that feeds straight into gasoline near $4 a gallon; a further spike would complicate the Fed's path even with growth holding firm. Energy led the market Tuesday, and it tends to move on the next headline out of the Gulf.

The Federal Reserve meets next week. Futures have trimmed the odds of a September cut toward a coin flip as oil firms, and while no move is expected, the statement's read on inflation risk is what the market will trade off the decision due July 29.

S&P 500 ETF (SPY), daily. The fund climbed back toward last week's high as all four major benchmarks advanced together.

iShares Semiconductor fund (SOXX), daily. A second straight gain began to repair a drop that had run 19% from the June peak.